Animal-trap



. (No Model.)

SfDBNNIS.

l ANIMAL TRAP. No. 354,599. Patented Deo. 21; 1886.

' @mwen-to z iinrrn' rA'rns SAMUEL DENN IS, O'F HORNELLSVILLE, NEV YORK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 354,599, dated December2l, 1885.

Application filed September 25, 1886. Serial No. 214,545. (No model.)

.T @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL DENNIs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hornellsville, in the county of Steuben and State of NewYork, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Animal-Traps, of whichthcfollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in animal-traps of that class knownto the art 'as jaw-traps; and it consists of the peculiar .and novelconstruction and arrangement ofthe several parts for service,substantially as hereinafterfully described,and particularly pointed outin the claims.

The prcsent invention is especially designed as an improvement upon thetrap patented to me on the th day of August, 1885, and numbered 324,925;and the primary object of my said improvements is to combine and arrangethe parts of a peculiar construction in a novel manner, so that thecfciency of the device is very materiallyincreased and the cost ofmanufacturing the same is very materially reduced.

In the drawings hereto annexed, Figure 1 is a perspective view of ananimaltrap embodying my present improvements. Fig. 2 is a verticalsectional view thereof on the line x w of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlargeddetail view of the tripping mechanism; and Fig. 4 is a like View ofanother form of my invention.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the gures, A designates the base of myimproved animaltrap, which is provided at one end withl an integralflange, a, and at its opposite end with a bifurcated standard, B, whichhas a threaded shank that screws into a threaded aperture in the base.

C designates the jaws, which are journaled at their extremities in theiiange a and stand ard B, and these jaws are capable of a lateralmovement to separate them and set the trap. One arm, e, of a spring, E,fits over the standard, and is adapted to impinge upon the sides of thelaterallymovable jaws to force the same together, and the other arm, c',of the said spring has an enlarged opening, through which said standardalso passes, thereby permanently connecting the spring to the standardand permitting the spring to swing around against the base, for thepurpose of compactly folding the parts together in storingandtransportng the device. g I

F designates a supplemental base, which consists of a flat rectangularpiece of metal which has two integral lugs, F, near one end, which arearranged parallel with each otherand separated for a short distance, andeach of the said lugs has an integral lip, f, on'its rear edge, throughwhich are formed transverse 6o openingsf, which are arranged in linewith each other. This supplemental base may be cast or formed in asingle piece of metal with the base A, or it may be for-med separatetherefrom and secured in place by rivets or screws; and the saidsupplemental base is arranged at right angles to the base, so that theend thereof on` which the lugs F are formed lies immediately beneath oneof the jaws when the'latter are separated to set the trap. v Gdesignates the trippan or plate, which is affixed on and carried by theinner end of an arm, lz, and the outer end of this arm is arrangedbetween the parallel lugs, a pin cr shaft, 1M, being passed through thelugs and 7 5 arm to support the latter in place and at a suitable heightabove the supplemental base, while at the same time the free-end of thearm is capable of a vertical movement to elevate and depress the trippan or plate in setting 8o and releasing the trap. l

The extreme outer end of the swinging arm h, that carries the trip-pan,,is provided with a notch, g, in its lower side, which forms a t lip orshoulder, g', on the upper side of the 85 arm, and this shoulder isadapted to bear or impinge against a shoulder, t', on the trigger l, toprevent the trigger from :move` ment when it is engaged with one of thejaws ofthe trap. This trigger I is disposed in a 9o vertical position infront of the free end of the arm h and between the lips f of the lugs,and through asuitable opening in the trigger and the transverse alignedopenings f of the said lips passes a pin or shaft, t, which pivotallysupports the said trigger in place. The rear side of the trigger isprovided with another shoulder, j, which is arranged above and in frontof the shoulderithereon, and this shoulder j is adapted to take or tbeneath the roo shoulder g of the arm Ji, when the paw] drops by gravityupon being releasedA by the arm h,

the upper front side of the trigger being provided with a lug, k, whichtakes or fits over the upper edges of one of thejaws when the trap isset. 5 In the modification shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings I provide thetrigger I with the two shoulders t' j on its front side and, withdiverging lips Z on its rear side, and the inner edge ,or side of thejaw E, with which the trigger is to be connected, is provided with anintegral lip, m, which has beveled sides, against which the divergingarms impinge to restrain K the jaws against movement.

This being the construction of my invention, the operation is asfollows: The spring-arm e is first depressed and the jaws movedlaterally of each other, after which the lip k fits over the upper edgeof one of the jaws, and the outer end of the arm h depressed to causeits shoulderg to bear upon the lower shoulder, i, and against theshoulder j, to prevent the trigger from falling away from engagementwith the jaw, the free end of the arm hand the trip pan or plate carriedthereby being elevated above the sub-base. The bait is placed upon thepan, and when the animal touches the pan, in attempting to secure thebait, the former is depressed to withdraw its shoulder g from contactwith the trigger, which thereby drops by gravity toward the arm h, sothat its shoulder j ts beneath the shoulder g. The jaws are thusreleased from the` trigger, and are forced together by 'the spring toclamp upon and strangle the animal.

It will be seen from the foregoing description, takenin connection withthe drawings, that I dispense with one of the standards of the trapshown in my prior patent hereinbefore referred to, and employ only a.single 40 standard; or the-parallel lugs F, for the support of both thearm h and the trigger, and the pivot of the arm 7L, that carries thetrippan, is brought nearer to the pivot of the trigger-about one-half ofan inch in a full-sized 45 trap as constructed by me-so lthat the trapis more easily sprung by the slightest touch on the trip-pan, therebyvery materiallyincreasing the efficiency of thedevice.

The trap is very simple, strong, and durable in construction, effectiveand reliable in operation, and cheap and inexpensive of manufacture.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in an animal-trap, with the base, the jaws carriedthereby, and the spring for forcing the jaws together, of a supplementalbase arranged transversely across the base, the integral spaced lugs-Fat one end of the supplemental base and having the lips f, a swingingarm pivoted near one end between the lugs and carrying a trip-pan at itsfree end, and a trigger pivoted in the lips f and controlled by the armh, the pivots of the arm h and trigger being thus arranged in closeproximity and one beneath the other and supported in a single pair oflugs, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

2. In an animal-trap, the combination, with a base, the laterally-movable jaws carried thereby, and the spring for forcing the jawstogether, of a supplemental base arranged transversely across the baseand carrying a single pair of lugs near one end, a swingingarm,h,pivoted in thelugs and having a. trip-pan at its inner end, andashoulder, g', at its outer end, and a trigger also pivoted in the lugsin rear of the arm h, and provided with a lip or lips on one side toengage one of the jaws, and

the shoulders i j ou its other side, which are arranged one above and inrear of the other, substantially as'dcscribed, for the purpose setforth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL DENNIS.

Witnesses:

F. A. STILLMAN, W. W. OXX.

